1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to hearing aid devices, and more particularly, to modeling of inlets and outlets of hearing aid vents within hearing aid devices.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A hearing aid device (HAD) is an electro-acoustic device, which may be worn within the wearer's ear, and is designed to amplify and modulate sound for the wearer. There is a growing requirement for miniaturization of HADs. However, it can be a challenging task to manufacture such devices. Manufacturing technologies and computer aided drawing/manufacturing (CAD/CAM) tools are used to aid in the miniaturization of HADs. A contemporary HAD design process starts by capturing three dimensional (3D) information from an impression taken from a patient's ear. Then, the captured data is converted into a polygonal surface, which is used as a basis for a personalized device design. When the design is completed, the HAD is manufactured directly from the resulting polygonal model by layered manufacturing (LM).
The resulting HAD should fit precisely into a patient's ear. However, since the fit is so precise, the ear is hermetically sealed, thereby causing pressure differences and an occlusion effect inside the ear canal. A vent may be created through the entire shell of the hearing aid device creating an inlet on one surface of the shell and an outlet on a second surface of the shell. The vent allows for air to pass from the ear canal through the inlet and the outlet to the outside to reduce occlusion.
Since, increasing the volume of the vent may allow for reductions in the occlusion, and the shape and size of inlet and outlet openings contribute to vent volume, there is a need for improved methods for modeling inlets and outlets of hearing aid shells to increase the volume of the vent.